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Shop til you drop in Paris
by Anna Goldrein
Leave your man at home or prepare an inexhaustible cultural itinerary to keep him out the way until he is required. Then hop on the Eurostar, which will take you to the heart of Paris and let you bring back as many bags as you can carry.
Remember to buy clothes for home - not every dress that's just the thing on a Parisian terrasse will cut the mustard in Notting Hill. Ask yourself what you really 'need' and how much you can afford to spend. Or just go for it - who needs food when this season's styles are waiting to be whipped off their hangers? Work that plastic!
Expect snooty staff?
If you're wearing tattered jeans that don't pass for boho-chic, expect snooty staff at Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Valentino on the Avenue Montaigne. But stand your ground; once you have one designer shopping bag in your grasp (even if you've only bought a hair-clip), you'll find the shop assistants turn from sour to sweet.
As you swing your designer bag down the boulevard, passers-by will look you up and down - with a Chanel bag in tow, you must be somebody. Perhaps a minor celeb? While you're feeling confident, stride to the Champs-Elysees (gigantic Louis Vuitton) and neighbouring Avenue Georges V (home to a recently opened Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Jey (where Mrs Beckham would feel right at home with the selection of Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen and D&G and a host of thigh-skimming skimpy denim items).
Magnet for media types
Concept-store Colette (on the smart Faubourg Saint-Honore) is a magnet for media types and happening young things with Euro to invest in tomorrow's make-up, designerwear, shoes and sportswear. While L'Eclaireur, rue des Rosiers, in the winding streets of the Marais is a slightly more sophisticated boutique bringing together the choice designer pickings with impeccable Parisian taste (if you're feeling guilty, get something for your boyfriend at Eclaireur for men just nearby).
Tucked away in the 3rd arrondissement, the Rue Charlot hosts boutiques for established and up-and-coming designer labels and fashion happenings while, all under one roof, Kokon To Zai in the 2nd arrondissement creates a clubby atmosphere to set off catwalk one-offs and cutting-edge designerwear.
Stroll villagey Montmartre, seeking out Spree, run by artist Bruno Hadjadj and his fashion designer partner Roberta Oprandi, for that perfect pair of khaki trousers, black silk-soft top and quirky jewellery in a boutique that wouldn't look amiss in hippest Hoxton.
Kitsch'n'chic
On the whole, Parisian chic steers away from anything excessive, and that includes kitsch. But fortunately, there are still pockets of joyous bad taste to be found. Head for the gay district within the Marais and home in on Why? which sells fluffy filofax, inflatable Eiffel Towers and anything fun, frivolous and flurorescent. While the Fiesta Galerie on the rue Vieille du Temple camps it up with '50s American retro.
Boogie in the disco lift
Pick up Parisian must-haves from High Street brands to designerwear, home furnishings and cosmetics on the Boulevard Haussmann where vast department stores Printemps, with its Art Nouveau dome, and the Galeries Lafayette vie for custom. Make sure you have a boogie in Printemps' disco lift and catch the Galeries Lafayette fashion shows every Tuesday at 11am.
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